BEIJING - China Thursday accused Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of trying to split the country and undermine China's relations with other nations.

Responding to the Dalai Lama's decision to cancel his planned visit to Belgium, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, "We hope relevant countries will keep on high alert against remarks and deeds of the Dalai Lama clique aiming to undermine China's relations with them and split the motherland," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The Tibetan leader was to have visited Belgium during the weekend but the trip was canceled apparently as a result of Chinese objections.

The Chinese spokeswoman said the Dalai Lama represents a political force of "Tibet Independence," which is "firmly opposed" by her government.

"The Dalai Lama's words and actions in the past decades have fully proved that he is by no means a purely religious figure, but a political exile who has conducted motherland-splitting activities under the camouflage of religion for years," Jiang said.

The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 after China occupied Tibet.